A common problem faced in today's amateur and professional sports, particularly in contact sports such as hockey, football and lacrosse, is the issue of neck injury, spinal cord injury and concussion. Concussion can be caused by direct contact to the head, but also as a result of acceleration forces, both linear and rotational, to the neck and head. These forces may be experienced during a body check or tackle even without direct contact to the head. The effect of the force during such an event results in movement of the brain against the skull that causes disruption of cell function. Concussions can also occur from rotation, lateral bending, flexion and extension of the spinal cord, brain stem and blood vessels located in the upper cervical area around the C1/C2 vertebral motor unit, which can occur during impact of a body check or tackle in which a resultant whipping of the neck and head happens much like that in a motor vehicle accident. In either case, concussions result in altered brain function that may last for days, months or even years, and can also lead to depression and early onset dementia.
To reduce the risk of concussions and spinal cord injuries, participants in contact sports, such as football, field hockey, lacrosse and ice hockey, wear protective helmets to shield the head and skull area from impact injuries. Helmet technology has sought to address problems with concussions; new foam headlines are being used inside helmets, often in combination with thicker, stronger and lighter plastic shells. Furthermore, sports leagues have taken efforts to make rule changes to reduce concussions, such as limiting body-checking and eliminating blind side hits or helmet to helmet contact.
Despite these advances in helmet technology and rule changes, instances of concussion continue to increase at alarming rates. While rule changes and advances in helmet technology have been significant in reducing direct impact injuries from blows to the head, any force applied to the helmet still moves the entire head. Thus, concussions and spinal cord injuries that occur as a result of acceleration/deceleration forces continue to occur; helmet technology advances also do not address other potential brain and spinal cord injury.
While prior attempts to reduce the risk of neck injuries from helmet motions have been addressed, these prior attempts have been largely unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons.
Prior art devices for preventing neck injury are centrally located on the helmet and fasten the helmet rigidly to a support structure such that safe and effective play is not possible due to restrictions in the participant's head motion, and thus to his or her vision and responsiveness. Exposed fasteners to the helmet present a hazard of injury to other players and in the case of entanglement, unexpected and potentially injurious head movement to the participant wearing the helmet. Elastic straps attached to the helmet induce unnecessary fatigue to the participant during the course of the event.
A device for preventing neck injury, spinal cord injuries and concussion that does not suffer from one or more of the above drawbacks or other deficiencies in the current art would be desirable.